1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a card reading device for chip cards and/or SIM cards having different thicknesses. More particularly, the present invention relates to a pressing element for cards having different thicknesses resulting in pressing of the cards via an extended surface area.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Card reading devices for chip cards are known as CCAD or chip card acceptor devices. These card reading devices can read either cards having a standard thickness or having a double thickness. A card reading device which is able to read cards of different thicknesses is known from German Patent application No. DE 195 16 987. Therein, cantilevered arms produce the pressure required for the contacts of the inserted card.
Particularly with higher temperatures, such cantilevered arms can produce deformations of the card due to the pressing power being concentrated in relatively small pressure points, which may lead to malfunctions of the card.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a card reader and a pressing element, respectively, which overcomes the problems of the prior art and which achieves pressing via an extended surface area even, and particularly, with cards having different thicknesses.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a card reader having a housing, said housing comprising a card support surface and an end wall, said card reader comprising two bearing arms, each having a fixed end and a free end, wherein the fixed end of each bearing arm is mounted to said end wall and wherein a pressing plate is pivotably mounted to the free ends of said bearing arms.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a pressing element for a card reader, said card reader having a housing, said housing comprising a card support surface and an end wall, said pressing element comprising two bearing arms, each having a fixed end and a free end, wherein the fixed end of each bearing arm is mounted to said end wall and wherein a pressing plate is pivotably mounted to the free ends of said bearing arms.
Preferred embodiments of the invention may be gathered from the dependent claims.